How can breeding more dogs be bettering the breed?

Question

I AM NOT a breeder nor do I plan to breed.

They say that a good reason to breed is to better the breed.

How does breeding and getting more puppies be bettering the breed?

Is that the only GOOD reason to breed?

Again, I'm not interested in breeding. Just confused about how breeding betters the breed.

Answer 1

It is the only reason anyone should breed.

A breed is improved by producing puppies that are closer to the breed standard than their parents were. Breed standards outline exactly how a dog should look, act, the functions it should perform naturally, etc. Dog shows award points and titles to the dogs that are closest to their breed standards. Those dogs are then bred to dogs of similar quality to produce puppies that are even closer to the breed standard. Those puppies are in turn shown in the ring, and if they are judged to be the highest quality, they are in turn bred. Breeders always strive to get that much closer to the breed standard, to exceed excellence everywhere they can. Any dogs that don't measure up are spayed and neutered and sold as pets to loving homes. If a pairing of dogs does not produce the results desired, they are not bred again. Anyone who breeds a dog that has not been judged and proven to be an excellent specimen is just in it for the money. Breeders keep a waiting list for the puppies they produce that cannot be shown, they do not breed puppies with the intention of selling them to families. A breeder's dream is that every puppy born to her dogs is show quality and can be put into the ring and proven a champion, and that none of her dogs ever need to leave her kennel. Unfortunately, that does not happen, because every puppy can't be perfect. Those that aren't are found homes as pets, those that are move on to the show ring.

There is no other reason to breed- money, education, because friends want puppies, because everyone says she's cute or sweet, because you want another dog just like her... those are all selfish reasons to breed a dog, they are all BAD reasons to breed a dog, and they are the reason that dogs are dying in shelters. They undo all the hard work that decent breeders have accomplished to improve the breed, by breeding inferior dogs and continuing to cause a decline in that breed's genetic health.

Answer 2

A responsible breeder doesn't just have one male and one female and continue to breed those two dogs. That would NOT better the breed. You would have your female and breed her to a male that would compliament her, a male that would have those traits that either she needs improving on say. Responsible breeders have homes for their puppies before they are born, and they also take back dogs of their breeding so they don't end up in shelters.

So they bred that female to the male and had a litter, if things work out like you hope, there should be a daughter in the litter that is a good combination of both parents and better than the pair. By rights you could spay her mother and continue with the daughter. You bettered the breed.

But breeding the same male and female together time in and time out, over and over, isn't going to improve upon anything. There is no such thing as a
breeding pair.

Answer 3

its not the point of creating "more"

rather, you breed to hope that the pups will be slightly better than the parents.

You do this by having the parents tested for genetic health problems.. so you can breed away from those issues, and hopefully breed it out of your lines.

You also match up dogs that you think will compliment each other's faults. You dont use dogs for breeding that have major faults.

You should also have an understanding for different genes. Some genes will cause health issues when paired together. Such as the marking for merle. Breeding 2 merles together creates double merles, which tend to be deaf. A good breeder does not do such a breeding.

Answer 4

Bettering the breed is breeding dogs more with more desirable traits and not or carefully pairing (to a better dog) dogs with less desireable traits.
For Bull Terriers we are trying to keep the short backs so my bosses most recent breeding was 2 short backed dogs -but- also they both carried a recessive hereditary disease that will kill one of the puppies soon, they didnt know until after the breeding but now neither dog or any of the other puppies can be bred again because of that trait and not wanting to pass it on.
And breeders also test for common issues and their dogs are all tested with things like PRA, OFA, BAER to prevent it being passed on.

Answer 5

Breeding better qualities (or improving/strengthening existing qualities) into a breed would constitute "bettering" a breed. For example, if a target weight/height is a goal of a certain breed, then causing more and more of the breeding stock to be within (or more often within) this target area could be considered "bettering" a breed.

Answer 6

A dog breeder's goal is to produce a dog that as close as possible emulates the standards of that breed. That is the "bettering."

There is a specific formula that the AKC has for each breed that sort of personifies the "perfect" dog. The desire is to have a dog as close as possible to that.

Answer 7

Those of us who breed to show aren't trying to "better" the breed. We are trying ot attain our breed standard. It doesn't mean we are just breeding more puppies. Just trying to get closer to the standard of perfection for our breed.

Answer 8

We breed to better the breed for the standard, not to just to have pups to sell...I only breed my females once a year and retire them at 4yrs of age......I want the perfect dog, to match none other in the world, that is why I breed and show, no other reason....its for love of the breed, not the glory.....

I breed/show/handle Miniature Schnauzers for 14 yrs and love doing it........

Answer 9

SELECTIVE Breeding betters the breed. When you mate parents with desired physical and/or behavioral characteristics these characteristics become more dominant. When their offspring are paired with a mate having similarly desired characteristics, the gene that causes this trait becomes even more dominant. Etc.

Answer 10

Breeding DOES improve a breed, however I believe very strongly against it because there are so many dogs without a home, there's no reason to bring more into this world. How it works, is when you breed two dogs with certain skills together, the genetics in the puppy will acquire those attributes as well. Over time, through breeding over and over again of champion dogs with great skills, the genetic build of the breed rewires itself around those characteristics.